The next eight-and-a-half weeks will no doubt keep us busy as we look towards the graduation of our Year 6 and 12 students respectively, supporting our Year 5 and 11 students as they step up as our new leaders for 2025 and hear about our Year 9 students thriving and growing at Googa over the next 4 weeks. At the same time, our Prep and Year 7 students have almost finished their first year at primary and high school. Meanwhile, more orientation and transition days will be held for our 2025 Prep, Year 7 and other new enrolments to the college. Everyone is invited to be part of this exhilarating end to the school year at Concordia.

Another exciting community event being run by our Parent Connect groups this term is Oktoberfest which will be held on Saturday 19 October. We are hoping that this will become an annual Concordia community event at which we can celebrate the German origins of our college. I hope to see many of you, with your family and friends, at this event.

As we begin to consider and plan for 2025, it is exciting to see that the college has gone to tender in Term 4 for Stage 1 of our Master Plan to be built during 2025. The college will continue to keep you updated with the Master Plan as it unfolds during Term 4.

Congratulations to all our Year 12 students as they wrap up their time at Concordia next week with their Recognition and Graduation Evening on Thursday and a closing Chapel on Friday. I have also had the wonderful privilege of spending the last 2 days with these fine young adults at their Year 12 retreat in the Bunya Mountains. These events and rites of passage will become life-long memories as we graduate these students into the adult world.

Our Junior College will also begin their Christmas for the Bush Service project as part of their learning focus for Term 4. This wonderful project is being run in conjunction with Care Outreach Australia. The various items collected will, over the coming weeks, be distributed amongst families in regional Queensland just in time for Christmas. Thank you in advance for your support. I recently read an article about Pay it Forward with research telling us that reaching out to others regularly is great for one’s mental wellness. So, who will you Pay it Forward to this term?

I hope to see many of you at the various events planned for your students. Please remember that we propagate a strong open-door policy as we work for and with you at Concordia. Stay safe and healthy and every blessing for a great Term 4.

Yours in Christ

Mr Anton Prinsloo
Head of College

Quote of the week:

It is great to be great, but greater to be human. [W. Rogers]

I guess it is a good reminder that we are part of a larger whole, and this larger community supports and encourages one another. Synod is the highest decision-making body of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand and instructs various committees and governing bodies in their work over the next three-year synodical term. Representatives from parishes and services across our vast continent and New Zealand gather in convention to worship together, to hear reports, to set the direction for the next few years and to vote on matters that are important for the church. It is also a great opportunity to connect and reconnect with people from across our church, spread to the ends of Australia and New Zealand, often in small communities. I always find the worship inspiring as hundreds of voices join in song and prayer, proclaiming our faith and honouring our Lord.

Meanwhile, we have welcomed students and staff from a hopefully restful break to the very busy and full Term 4 at our Toowoomba Concordia Lutheran College campuses. Our Year 12s are preparing for the conclusion of their schooling, the Year 9s have moved temporarily to Googa for what will be a life-shaping experience, and the rest of us are working to achieve the possibilities and finish the year well.

I pray that our Lord may bless each of you through this term and that we may work well together as we continue to grow, learn and worship in our community here.

God bless,

Thomas Böhmert
College Pastor

It is also a time of acknowledging growth and perseverance through the many excursions, camps and celebrations. This week our Year 9s farewelled their loved ones and friends as they began to embark on their GOOGA experience. That morning, I had the opportunity to speak with students and their families each of which shared their level of excitement and anticipation for the journey that lay ahead. During those conversations, I saw students who wore brave smiles and held their heads high ready to begin a life-changing experience.

How incredible is it that we have this opportunity for our students to engage in a program that focuses on personal and spiritual growth. With this comes a high level of faith in our college community. This week at our college chapel service, Mr Miegel spoke about faith and what this means to us as a college community. For our Year 9 students, they are putting their faith in the GOOGA program to help them develop resilience and gratitude. For our families, they are putting their faith and trust that their children will return with greater wisdom and perspective. As a college, we do not underestimate the trust that our families put in us to deliver this program that has life-lasting benefits. Throughout the camp our college staff are continually engaged with each student’s progress and welfare. The strong partnership that has been built between the GOOGA staff and the College ensures that all students are safe and cared for. Knowing this, families can have complete faith that we are all travelling this journey together.

As a college community, it is important that we acknowledge and uphold our faith in the Concordia community. As we know, there will be times of tribulation and uncertainty, but by maintaining faith in God and the Concordia way, our students will continue to grow and shine. In Mark 9:23 Jesus says, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Believing in “the Concordia way” and putting full trust into God’s plan for our student’s education, will bring our college community together and help our students thrive in this world.

As we make our way through Term 4, I would encourage all members of our college community on how we demonstrate our faith and trust in one another. By collaborating in partnership with one another, we build a compassionate and caring community with our student’s best interests at heart.

I would like to wish our Year 9 students and their families all the very best for the next four weeks as we work alongside GOOGA staff to achieve the best outcomes for these students. I would also encourage families to reach out to members of our Pastoral Care Team if you have any questions about the program or care provided during this time.

Take care!

Mr Tony Manteufel
Director of Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

One of the highlights of Term 4 is our big community event - Oktoberfest! Scheduled for Saturday, 19th October from 4pm to 8pm at the Stephen Street Campus, this event promises fantastic entertainment and finishes with a spectacular fireworks finale. Oktoberfest 2024 will include traditional German activities, a Wurst competition, and performances by our students, creating a festive atmosphere for the whole family to enjoy. We strongly encourage you to purchase your tickets now via the Concordia Lutheran College website as this offers a discounted rate compared to purchasing on the day. This event is a great opportunity to bring friends and family to experience the vibrant culture and community spirit at Concordia Lutheran College. It is an event not to be missed! Stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie es nicht verpassen!!!

We will this term welcome new families and students to the Concordia Lutheran College community during our Orientation Day. This special event is designed to help new members of our community become acquainted with the College and to make a smooth transition into their new environment. Orientation Day offers an opportunity to meet teachers, explore the campus, and learn more about the diverse programs and activities available.

As we move towards the end of the year, we also focus on our Year 12 students. This term will be their final one at Concordia, but they will forever remain a part of our Concordia family. Please remind Year 12 students to ensure that we have updated contact details that will remain relevant after graduation, so we can keep in touch and invite them to reunions and events in the future.

We are busy helping with reunions now. This year marks 30, 40 and 50-year reunions for our graduates in 1974, 1984 and 1994. It is wonderful to see the connections that are still strong.

To those parents of Year 9 students who are currently at Googa, I personally know you will be waiting anxiously for your letter and trust me your students will be waiting for your letters as well. They will have a challenging but rewarding time. I assure you they are in good hands and will learn a lot while away.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Concordia Lutheran College.

Warm regards,

Ms Belinda Sanders
Director of Marketing & Community Engagement

We know that encouraging our young people to read can be an uphill battle. Often, we are competing with friends, social media and computer games in trying to convince our young people to pick up a book. Recent research (Gagan-Spriggs, 2023) shows that one influencing factor in persuading young people to read is seeing people that they look up to read and take an interest in reading. This could be a parent. Older sibling, teacher or coach. Young people enjoy also the social aspects of reading, which we can see play out in the popularity of trends such as #booktok (book reviews on TikTok).

Taking all of this into account, we are introducing ‘Page Turner Packs!’ These are mini book clubs in a box and come with multiple copies of a book, discussion cards and activities related to the book that they whole family can enjoy together. You could even recruit extended family to join in! The idea being that you all read the same book and have conversations as a family and enjoy the activities together.

The books are aimed at years 4-9 but can be enjoyed by any age group.

Our Page Turner Packs can be borrowed from any campus- please get in touch with me (Heidi.edwards@concordia.qld.edu) to borrow your box

Books:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tommy Bell Bushranger boy: Shoot Out at the Rock (by local author Jane Smith)

Two ways strong: Jaz’s story (written by Concordia Students)

The Silver Sword (recommended for years 6+)

Christmas for the Bush
This is a special time of year for us at the Junior College as we assist in supporting the work of the Care Outreach program to support families in need at this time of the year. Each week we will be collecting various donations that will be presented as an offering at our Chapel services throughout this term. This will culminate with a Chapel Service on Friday 1 November at the CLC Chapel, 9.30am when we are joined by members of the Care Outreach team. Please see details for this in the community section.

Monday 14 October - CLC Orientation Day and JC Stepping Up
We will welcome new 2025 students to our campus and also enjoy a morning of ‘stepping up’ into the next year level. The teachers may or may not be the same for next year and we will confirm teachers early in 2025. The students do enjoy spending the morning in their 2025 classroom gaining a taste of the next year level.

Friday 18 October - WSC Grandparents' Day
It is a special time when our Grandparents' can join us at school for the morning. WSC will spend the morning with their Grandparents' with a Chapel service and some pop-up learning. If you are available to assist in preparing the Morning Tea on this day we would love to hear from you. Please see the link on the Grandparents' Day flyer.

Saturday 19 October - Oktoberfest
We are looking for volunteers to assist with our German hotdog stall as well as welcoming everyone to come along and enjoy the afternoon. If you are able to volunteer, please fill in the form on the Oktoberfest article.

Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 October – CLC Art Show
We have a change in our format this year for our CLC Art Show. Students and parents will be welcome to visit our CLC Art Show between 3.30pm-6pm on both afternoons. There will be no cost involved and we encourage everyone to plan on visiting to see your child’s artwork hanging in a gallery.

Please ensure you are reading your weekly newsletter to find out the details of all of these events.

With so much excitement, we know we are going to have a successful term. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk with your child’s teacher or your Campus’ Director.

Click here to view HSC's Events for Term 4 2024, Week 2.
Click here to view WSC's Events for Term 4 2024, Week 2.

Mrs Juanetta Priest - Director of Campus (Hume Street)
Mrs Jackie Minnikin - Director of Campus (Warwick Street)

I have just arrived back from our inaugural Year 12 Retreat at the Bunya Mountains where I was also accompanied by Mr Prinsloo, Ms Bowes and Mrs Rohde, as well as leaders from Lutheran Youth of Queensland. This retreat (Ms Bowes tells me retreat is more adult sounding than camp, and therefore more fitting for our Year 12s), is designed to be one last experience for our cohort to come together and share their story and final reflections. Despite the cooler conditions, some pesky ticks and the occasional bird raid (see Facebook), this opportunity has served its purpose, with students using the time effectively and respectfully to connect and pay homage to their journey at Concordia.

It was quite moving to see even the closest of friends find out new information about each other while also sharing a laugh about memories that I am sure will be repeatedly retold at future reunions.

There is no doubt in my mind that each and every one of these students has the gifts and potential to move successfully into adult life, with a well-grounded sense of what it means to be a humble and caring citizen. The staff are so very proud of this fine group of young people we have been privileged to educate.

Over the coming week, we will recognise this group in their final celebratory events – their Graduation and Recognition Evening and closing chapel. Following all of this, our seniors have one last job to do in completing their external assessments. However, we are confident in the preparation that has and will continue to occur to support them through these few final weeks.

I wish to recognise the families of these students and the incredible job you have done in raising these graduates; especially our departing families, who in some cases have been with the College from when their oldest children started prep. Our college deeply appreciates your contribution to our community, and we wish your family all the best for what we hope will be wonderful years ahead.

While all of this is happening, our Year 9s are also currently adjusting to life at GOOGA, where they will spend the next three weeks developing a deeper awareness of themselves and others in an environment designed to foster resilience and a sense of their own capacity and resourcefulness. Staff will be visiting sporadically during this time, and we look forward to sharing some of the stories as they emerge from this excellent program.

For all other students it’s business as usual as we move into our final curriculum units and assessment.

Shortly we will be releasing our Unit 2 and 3 reports for Year 11 and 12 students respectively. I encourage families to make contact with teachers if you wish to discuss results and progress. A reminder that all assessment results and feedback are posted to Parent Lounge so you are able to see how students are performing within their individual subjects.

On 14 October we will be welcoming new students to Concordia in 2025 at our Orientation Day. This is a chance for students to make social connections early, and meet our staff, while also learning more about how we do things at Concordia.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks as we begin awards and recognition season.

Yours in faith

Mr Jamie Pukallus
Director of Campus

Both dorms were full of chatter, banter, laughter and hysteria on Monday evening when their friends arrived. Whilst the sadness of saying goodbye to home and family is very draining and emotional for some, reuniting with friends can be very invigorating and uplifting.

We all look forward to an exciting term with much happening in the coming weeks. Our Year 12 exams, prize giving, external activities, Year 11 commencing Year 12 work, completion of junior assessments etc. Students will be kept very busy. Please check the school calendar for an update on events happening.

We welcome our new students for 2025 on the 12^th of October for our Boarder weekend experience and school orientation. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please give the school a call as you would be very welcome.

Please try to have all weekend leave submitted by Wednesday each week so that we can let the kitchen staff know the numbers for the weekends and organise activities.

Let’s celebrate the achievements of our Boarder Captains Kerri and Khan. They both looked Fabulous. It was great to see our Tutors, current and past, celebrating at the red-carpet entrance.

That’s all folks for this week –

Maureen

Boarding Coordinator